Prosecution grills eyewitness on conflicting testimony in 2015 felony murder case

Briston Smith
Briston Smith

Where a 20-year-old charged with felony murder was standing at the time of a 2015 shooting became a central argument in his trial Thursday.

Prosecutors say Briston Smith was inside 19-year-old Charles Holsey's black BMW when he ordered a friend to "shoot (Holsey's) - - " before fleeing the planned robbery at 311 Sylvan St. in a friend's car. That theory is based on police interviews and testimony provided Wednesday by Holsey's former girlfriend, who described her experience from the front passenger seat.

But defense attorneys cross-examined a witness Thursday who said Smith never fully entered the vehicle, instead standing outside an open door. Both cars were so closely parked, Smith was already halfway back inside his ride when Young opened fire on Holsey, said Jayda Mayhue, another eyewitness that night.

"So he was getting halfway into the white Taurus when you hear the gunshots?" defense attorney Rip Biggs asked.

"Yes," Mayhue said.

"How are you certain?" Biggs asked.

"Cause the door opened and I saw him," she replied.

That didn't sound right to prosecutors, who said Mayhue didn't testify that way during three previous hearings.

"You hear the gunshots and then," prosecutor Cameron Williams said, presenting Mayhue with a transcript of her former recollection, "they run and jumped in the car."

"That's what you told police, but that's not what you told this jury today," Williams said.

"No," said Mayhue.

She does not face any charges in the case.

Smith faces felony murder and attempted especially aggravated robbery, which could carry a life sentence. Prosecutors believe his friend, Abram Young, then a minor, pulled the trigger while Robert Thompson was the getaway driver. Thompson chose to remain silent, pleading the Fifth Amendment when defense attorneys called him to the stand Thursday. He and Young's cases are pending with the same charges.

Everyone involved in the case was under the age of 20 at the time.

Since prosecutors have to prove there was a planned robbery, defense attorneys focused Thursday on the full events of March 2, 2015. They will have the chance to put on more proof today since prosecutors have rested their case in Judge Barry Steelman's Criminal Court.

Mayhue said she and Thompson went to the plasma center, Wendy's and then an Autozone before Smith called and asked for a ride. Thompson had a senior high school project due the next day, but decided to help his long-time friend, Mayhue said.

On the ride back from a recreation center on Highway 58, Smith asked if they could pick up Young. They were going to buy marijuana from a guy whom Smith had texted by accident. Smith was never armed, Mayhue said she never heard a price discussed, and nobody talked about a robbery.

Mayhue said Young was carrying a backpack that Thompson said he sometimes used to carry a gun - but she never saw a firearm that evening. She said Thompson didn't feel well from giving plasma but agreed to drive.

After bailing on the Publix parking lot and a miscommunication about whether to go to Walgreen's or CVS, both cars met in the parking lot behind the Kangaroo gas station on Dallas Street. They parked close together, Mayhue said, and Young walked behind the back of Holsey's car and sat in the back seat behind him. Smith never got into the car.

"How certain are you he never got in the car?" Biggs asked.

"Very certain because the door was always open," Mayhue said. "I could see his hand and his head."

After the shooting, Thompson sped back up Sylvan Street while Holsey drove off in the other direction, Mayhue said. Holsey ended up wrecking after being shot in the back and was taken to Erlanger hospital, where he died. At the time, Mayhue said, they weren't even sure if someone was injured because of how quickly everything happened.

Everyone was upset with Young, asking why he would fire a gun, Mayhue said.

Young replied he opened fire because Holsey reached for his glove compartment, Mayhue said. They dropped him off at his girlfriend's house in Eastdale. Then she, Thompson and Smith went to a family member's place to calm down.

They never called police, who would trace a fingerprint on Holsey's vehicle to Smith. During a police interview three days later, Smith said there was a robbery planned but that he didn't know Young would shoot. Based on that interview, police took out warrants for Thompson and Young, Chattanooga investigator Chris Blackwell said.

That night at the house, however, about 30 minutes later, Mayhue found an article on her cellphone from News Channel 9.

According to the report, someone had crashed a car near the 600 block of Market Street and gunshots were possibly involved. It was about half a mile away from their shooting.

Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.

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